LOS ANGELES - On November 8, 2007, Tesco, the world's third largest food retail corporation, will open its first six Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets in Southern California. Tesco's entry into the U.S. market raises key food access, health and environmental issues that apply to the supermarket industry as a whole. These sets of issues were evaluated in the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute's August 2007 report, Shopping for a Market: Evaluating Tesco's Entry into Los Angeles and the United States, which can be accessed online at www.uepi.oxy.edu.

Today, UEPI releases an update to Shopping for a Market that addresses two of those issues: the location of stores in food deserts and Tesco's environmental profile regarding the company's plans for green building certification.

The update finds that Fresh & Easy's first thirteen locations are primarily in middle class suburban areas, where income is generally higher than the county average and where the community already has access to a full-service supermarket. One store in the Riverside County town of Hemet, is in a census tract with a significantly higher-than-average poverty rate. But two major supermarkets (Albertsons and Smart & Final) are about half a mile away, indicating that the residents in the area where the new Fresh & Easy is located are not significantly under served by major food retailers. Another store, opening in L.A.'s mixed-income Glassell Park neighborhood, is making an important contribution by filling the void left by the recent closure of two supermarkets, bringing a much-needed grocery store to that area.

More than half (60%) of the sites are in census tracts where the median income is higher than the county average.

A majority (73%) of sites are in census tracts where the poverty rate is lower than the county average.

Eleven stores (9%) are in a census track with a significantly high poverty rate.

Of the 16 stores identified by Fresh & Easy in the Los Angeles area, there are no stores identified in South and Central Los Angeles.

The update also discusses Tesco's plans to participate in a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) volume certification pilot program that would allow the company to build multiple buildings with a streamlined certification process. In order for a Fresh & Easy store to receive a LEED designation under the volume certification program, the building must be constructed from the ground-up. However, existing stores, such as leased properties including the one in Glassell Park, will not be certified.

Tesco has asked residents and policymakers to "trust us," as did four major supermarket chains when they promised but failed to follow through on their pledge to build 32 new stores in the areas impacted by the L.A. civil unrest in 1992. "Creating agreements and measures of accountability is necessary to ensure that stores actually get built in the communities that need them." says lead author Amanda Shaffer.

"By establishing a high profile message about food deserts and green building approaches, Tesco has raised the bar for all food retailers. At the same time, communities and policy makers need to institutionalize requirements for equitable store distribution while minimizing environmental impact across the industry," says Robert Gottlieb, Director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute.

Key recommendations for ensuring that stores will be built in food deserts and that green building practices are instituted, can be found in the conclusion of the update.

The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) at Occidental College is a community-oriented research and advocacy organization with a mission of creating a more just, livable and democratic region. UEPI serves as the umbrella for a variety of affiliated programs addressing work and industry, food and nutrition, housing, transportation, regional and community development, land use, and urban environmental issues.